THE presidential election is eroding the US’ overall objectivity as Republicans and Democrats divide the country into two camps. One camp’s main message has only one purpose: to help President Trump’s re-election, while the other camp also has only one purpose: to bring down the Trump administration. Whether describing the epidemic or summarizing the economic situation, both camps are trying to influence the vote. Regardless of the truth, it is more important to get the results first. Therefore people need to be more careful about what Fed Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said that US economic data since May had been “surprisingly strong” and could return to the levels of activity at the business cycle peak before the outbreak of the pandemic after a year, and the herd immunity strategy devised by the White House and several experts. US economic data for the third quarter is widely expected to be better than the second, since the epidemic in the third quarter was less severe. The economy has recovered somewhat. It would be odd if economic data did not rebound after the Federal Reserve had injected $2.3 trillion, and the stock market was pumped up.
However, such economic recovery is like constructing a building on top of sand. The US has just gone through the worst economic recession ever recorded, and the root cause is the novel coronavirus epidemic. The US has not yet found an effective way to control the virus. It has only become more psychologically used to the epidemic, and such thinking is also shaky. The prospect of the pandemic is uncertain. It is highly probable that a new peak of COVID-19 infections will arrive this winter. Will the epidemic get even worse next year? No one knows. Against this backdrop, what has made the Trump administration predict its economy will fully recover from coronavirus in one year?
The Trump administration wants to achieve herd immunity. The proposal is sensational. It is equivalent to forcing the whole world to pursue herd immunity. How bloody will the process be? In the US alone, millions of people could die of it. Only societies which are kidnapped by false information and turn mad would welcome such a plan. Disinformation coming from the US is also impacting the world. Many countries are struggling with the epidemic, but most of them are trying to find ways to solve the problem. The US is the only country that blamed China for its failure to contain the epidemic, seriously promoting the nonsense that “China has harmed the world.” Though this quibble violates common sense and does not constitute a serious issue in the international mainstream, the nonsense has disturbed the order and atmosphere of international public opinion, and suppressed people’s understanding of the truth.
– Global Times
